


Picking Up The Trails

by theblackempress



Category: Fallout 3, Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fallout, Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, F/M, Nuclear Warfare, Nuclear Weapons, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Nuclear War, Rape/Non-con Elements, Violence, capital wasteland setting, mostly homestuck stuff in a fallout setting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-18 19:55:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2360285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theblackempress/pseuds/theblackempress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane Crocker is exiled from her home in Vault 101 after her dad, the head of the Vault's medical program, mysteriously disappears on Jane's nineteenth birthday. She is now on the trail, leaving her friend Roxy behind to venture out into the dark overworld of the Capital Wasteland.</p><p>There, she meets Jake English, a hardened veteran of the harsh, outside world. Deeming himself Jane's official protector, he tags along on her journey to follow the trail left behind by her father...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The result of playing too much Fallout 3 and my undying love for Janey resulted in this.
> 
> also yes the title is a reference to the quest of the same name. c:

_"Almost there...!"_

_"...Such a beautiful baby girl. What shall we name her, Roxanne?"_

_"Oh, David, she's so precious...!"_

_"W-We're losing her, Dr. Brinner!"_

_"Shit, shit! Hang in there! Hey, you, get her out of here!"  
_

_"Right away, sir. Of course. Come on, sweetheart..."_


	2. S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

A young man in his mid-twenties picked up the squirming body of his infant daughter. He smiled, placing her on a table and put her in the typical jumpsuit for a vault dweller her age, then placed her on the ground.

"Happy birthday, Jane." He grinned as his daughter babbled and giggled. The man pulled over a gift. "Oh, what's this? Is this for you? Is this for you, Janey?" He giggled, tickling his baby. The girl grabbed at the gift and ripped off the wrapping paper, revealing a box. Confused, Jane grabbed at it with her fat little fists, until her father slid the top off and pulled out a little plush bunny.

Jane squealed and grabbed the bunny. "Buh buh," she mumbled, stuffing an ear in her mouth and grinned.

"You like your present, don't you?" He smiled. "Want to go play with your friends?" Jane looked up at her father and immediately gave a squeaking noise of joy. "Alright, c'mere, muffin." He picked up the girl and brought her out to the vault common room.

An infant about a half a year older was waiting patiently with her mother and father, playing with toys. Her platinum-blonde hair kept getting in the way of her face as she looked up at her friend. Jane toddled over and greeted her friend with a few paps of her hand.

"She's grown up so fast, David." The mother said, grinning and sweeping her daughter's hair out of her face.

"As did Roxy." The man chuckled. "She's growing up to be a strong girl."

"Both of them are. Little angels sent from heaven." The mother said. She put down a present on the ground, in front of little Jane. "Happy birthday, dear!"

Jane tore through the wrapping paper, revealing a Nuka-Cola toy truck. She put her fat hand on it and pushed it around, happy as can be. Such a precious child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know Amata is younger than the Lone Wanderer but this isn't Amata, this is Roxy blrugh.
> 
> dadbert intensifies
> 
> I appreciate every single comment. Feel free to send one~ I will always respond!


	3. Nine Years Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to bring my lunch to school so here I am, writing instead of eating. I feel like I'm going to implode.

"Heeey Janey! Wake up!" Roxy squealed, shaking the bed. Jane gave a snort, bolting upright. The blinding lights of Vault 101 made her awakening rather hazy as she focused in on the smiling face of her best friend.

"Lemme sleep for another minute, Rox..." Jane laid back down, but Roxy pulled her out of bed.

"Come on, I got'cha a birthday present!" Roxy said. "There's gonna be ca-a-a-ake!"

Jane got up. "Alright, alright, gimme a minute." She ambled out of bed and changed quickly into her jumpsuit, following Roxy into the commons room. A door opened, and a chorus of voices cheered "Happy Birthday, Jane!"

"I planned this all for you. I hope you like it." Roxy grinned. Jane's father was there, along with Roxy's own father, who just so happened to be the Vault's Overseer, old Nanna Crocker and Poppop, and some other kids around their age.

"It's wonderful. Thank you!" Jane grinned, hugging Roxy.

Her father put a hand on her shoulder. "Such a big day for you, Jane. As with every child hitting the milestone of ten years, I'd like to present you with your own Pip-Boy 3000." He said, handing her the device. "It's a big responsibility, you know, but I believe you are more than capable of handling it." He helped his little girl put on the device and then told her to go have fun.

"Thanks, Daddy." Jane said, kissing him on the cheek, and then ran off to hang out with her friends.

She approached Nanna Crocker, an elderly lady who would tell the children stories and bake them goodies, and her husband Poppop would teach them magic tricks. Such nice memories. "How are you enjoying the party, Nanna?" Jane asked.

Nanna gave a wide grin, the crinkly edges of her wrinkled face in its own smile. "Oh, it is wonderful, dearie! Oh, you've grown up so fast." She picked up her purse and took out a cupcake, wrapped neatly in saran wrap and tied with a red ribbon. "Here you go."

"Oh, you didn't have to, Nanna. Thank you." Jane said, hugging Nanna. They talked a bit, and then Jane went to the kids table.

Roxy was sitting next to some other Vault dwellers, some young boys around their age. One of them, Cronus, was eyeing Jane's cupcake.

"Hey, Jane, lemme have somma that!" Cronus yelled, jumping up in front of Jane.

She held the cupcake away from him. "No way, it's mine! You can get one on  _your_ birthday!" _  
_

"C'moooon, please?" Cronus begged, widening his eyes.

Jane sighed and grabbed a knife. "Fine." She cut the cupcake into fourths, giving a piece to Cronus, another to Roxy, the third to Cronus' friend Mituna, and kept the last for herself. "This better?"

Cronus glared and grumbled, stuffing the cupcake in his mouth.

"What a pig," Roxy muttered, eating her slice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah no BB Gun part because I'm lazy.
> 
> I appreciate every single comment. Feel free to send one~ I will always respond!


	4. Exile Vilify

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops wait wrong fandom.

Jane's nineteenth birthday began with Roxy waking her up, as usual. Only this time, Roxy's face shone with fear.

"Jane!  _Jane!_ Get your fat ass up!" Roxy screamed, shaking her best friend awake. "Come on!"

She sat up, moving her short-cropped hair out of her face and yawning, grabbing her red cat-eye glasses and putting them on, focusing in on her best friend. "Whassamattur?" Jane mumbled, sitting up. Her dishevelment obvious due to her frazzled hair and wide eyes, Roxy was not in the mood to try to deal with someone who wasn't fully awake. In a swift motion, Roxy smacked Jane and jumped up, grabbing Jane's jumpsuit.

"C'mon, ya gotta get outta here!" Roxy huffed, helping Jane get dressed.

"What's going on, Rox?" Jane mumbled, zipping up the front of her jumpsuit.

"Didn't ya hear the alarms? The Vault door has been opened! Your dad is gone!" Roxy said. "They're after ya, Janey!"

Jane blinked, confused. "Who is? Why me?" She asked.

"The security, dumbass! This was your dad's last strike." Roxy said. She seemed to be choking on her words. "You should get out of here before they kill you. And they'll do it, I know it." She crossed her arms. "They were going to kill your dad. I saw 'em shooting at him."

"Where'm I gonna go?" Jane mumbled. As she was trying to wake herself up, Roxy was shoving some of her personal items into a backpack.

"You can't exactly stay here. They'll kill you." Roxy muttered, squeezing the straps of the backpack.

Jane took the pack. "Are you suggesting I-"

"-Leave the Vault." Roxy finished. She slipped the backpack on Jane and escorted her out quickly, dodging into the Overseer's office. "You need to go."

"This is all so sudden. I-" Jane started. "Why? This... This is a dream, isn't it?" She pinched her hand. "Y'all are pullin' a trick on me, aren't ya?"

Roxy put a hand on Jane's shoulder. "I'm not kidding." She took a pistol and some rounds out of a drawer. "You need to go."

"I- I- Roxy, y'all are lyin' to me. I know it!" Jane said, her heart beating hard.

Roxy pressed a button on a terminal and typed in a few words, opening a hatch. "I'm scared for you. They're going to fucking  _slaughter_ you if you don't get out." There were tears in her eyes. "Please just believe me."

Jane's eyes darted to the monitors overhead. Security rushed down various halls. In one instance, she saw two come into her bedroom, tearing the place apart and yelling for her to come out. She pressed some arrows, getting a monitor to show her father's room. It was torn apart, blood splattering the bed.

"What happened...?" She asked, breathless.

"I don't know. Jane, you need to go. Please." Roxy said, biting her bottom lip.

"But this is completely stupid! Why not tell 'em I ain't done nothing wrong?" Jane asked.

Roxy's bright pink eyes darted back and forth from Jane to the hatch, leading down to the open Vault door. She grabbed Jane's face and kissed her, then pulling away and wiping her face on her sleeve. "I tried telling them. You need to go. Please." Roxy said. The door to the room burst open, and Roxy grabbed Jane's hand. "Just go, okay? I- I love you! Now get the hell out of here!" She shoved Jane down to the Vault door.

Bewildered, Jane stared at Roxy as her best friend closed the Vault door. She touched her face, feeling the stickiness of Roxy's black lipstick still on it. She took one last look at her friends and yelled, "Roxy, I love you too. I always have!"

The door shut tight, and Jane turned away, not looking back as she walked to a boarded-up door that was kicked out by someone, and stepped into the blinding light of the outside world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only times I made spelling errors while typing this chapter was when writing Roxy's dialogue. How coincidental.
> 
> shit chapter because it's 2 am
> 
> dadbert intensifies
> 
> I appreciate every single comment. Feel free to send one~ I will always respond!


	5. Megaton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter because I'm watching Steven Universe.

Jane couldn't comprehend this new world around her. The ground around her was dusty and dirty and full of scraps of metal thrown every which way. Dilapidated buildings could be seen in the distance, but no signs of life. She walked around a bit, breathing in the nauseating air. The yellow skies let in a blazing heat from the sun above.

As she rose over a brown, lifeless hill, she laid eyes upon a fishbowl constructed of sheets of warped metal. A Protectron was outside, greeting a man in a dapper suit, flanked by two heavily-armed guards and a two-headed cow with packs strapped to his back. How strange!

She walked over, greeting the suited man. "Uh, hello sir. Can y'all tell me where I am, exactly?" She requested.

"Not from around here, eh missy? This fine city here is ol' Megaton!" The man smirked. He examined Jane's outfit. "Where'd you get those clothes?"

"They're from the Vault." Jane said, raising an eyebrow. "I best be going now, thanks." She walked away, feeling the man's eyes burning into the back of her neck.

The entrance to Megaton was a large metal gate that creaked open. It sounded like it could use some oil. Inside was a steep flight of stairs, composed of metal blocks and pipes, leading down to a huge undetonated atomic bomb in a puddle of water. People bustled about everywhere, all wearing ragged clothing.

Jane walked down the steps. To her right was a small place with the words " _Bronze Lantern"_ painted lazily on the side. A lady in an orange jumpsuit attended the stand.

"Now I  _know_ I haven't seen you 'round here. You new here?" The lady asked.

Jane nodded. "Yeah, uh... What is this place?" She asked.

"Wow, you must've been living under a rock, kid. You never heard of Megaton before?" She chuckled, then looked at Jane's clothes. "Wait, are you from one of them Vaults?"

"What's it to you?" Jane retorted, keeping a hand on her gun. She wasn't ready to be killed just yet.

"I just saw a guy from the Vaults not that long ago. You know 'em? Tall guy, wears a fedora, smoking a pipe."

"Where is he?!" She demanded, putting both hands on the stall table.

"He went up to Captor's Saloon. You could try there."


	6. Captor's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warning: Attempted rape.

Jane strutted inside the saloon she was directed to, walking up to the bar. A gray-skinned man with four candy corn-coloured horns was wiping down the table.

"You new here, "mithy"?" The man greeted her, flicking his eyes up at her underneath his red and blue glasses.

"I'm looking for my father. Tall man, wears a white fedora. Y'all seen him 'round here?" Jane asked, giving him the business.

The man made a grumbling noise in his raspy throat. "Wuthit to you?"

"He's my- A friend." Jane said. She didn't trust this guy.

"He left, thorry." The man said. Jane hung her head in disgust, angry. "Y-you wanna rent a room or thumthin'? On'y ten capth."

"Sorry, I'm all outta money." Jane said, wondering what these 'caps' were. "Though, are you willing to trade for a bit of supplies?"

The man nodded, asking what she had. Jane rummaged around her backpack and pulled out some old books she never read, wondering why Roxy put them in her pack, and then took out some cigarettes, her Nuka-Cola truck from when she was a kid, and a... What was a garden gnome doing in her backpack? She received more than enough to pay for the room that night.

The man, who later said his name was Sollux, showed Jane to her room and then left to go back to his post. Jane shut the door behind her and put her pack down, shuffling through it to find pajamas. The fumes of the outside world were making her tired, and the sun had begun to set outside.

She slipped off her jumpsuit jacket and shirt; her glasses flying onto the ground. "Shit," Jane mumbled, getting down on all fours to find them. She was paying too much attention to finding her glasses to hear the rusted creak of her room door opening and footsteps getting closer. By the time she did, she had been grabbed around the back.

"Hey, sugar cookie." A voice purred, covering Jane's mouth with a thick hand. Screaming silently, she clawed at the grip as the adversary's other hand snaked behind her back, pulling at the metal hooks of her bra. "C'mon, sexy. Here's a little Wasteland welcome for ya." The fabric snapped and the bra straps slipped down to the crease in Jane's bent arms. A shift of the person's hands allowed Jane to let out a shrill shriek. It was short, but loud enough.

The person had both arms around Jane now, one choking her neck and the other covering her mouth. With their legs, they used their feet to start slipping off Jane's pants. She wrestled an arm out of the person's grip and elbowed them in the side, allowing her a second and a half of unobstructed breathing, which she used to scream. She was immediately grabbed at with both of the person's hands gripping her neck, pressing down hard.

All Jane heard was fuzziness, metal on metal, and two gunshots. She felt the grip go slack and she fell down backwards on the ground in a pool of blood. A pair of hands hoisted her up and she found herself in the lap of a dark-haired Hispanic boy with wild emerald eyes. He was whispering promises of safety.

Jane gasped and sat up nervously, helped up by her saviour. She laid eyes upon her attacker, a brunette woman with her head now blown off. She looked back at the boy and choked out a "Thank you." before going into a coughing and sobbing fit.

He patted her on the back, holding her close. "There you go, let it all out..." He whispered, wrapping his arms around her.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed, backing away from him. She panted heavily and covered her upper torso with her arms, tears in her eyes. "Get out!"

"Hey, hey, I'm just tryna help you. Don't worry. I won't hurt you." He said, putting down his gun. "See? There, all I want to do is help."

"I said get out!" Jane sobbed, and he said okay, backing away and closing the room's door halfway to keep an eye on her. She stood up shakily and put her clothes on, taking a five minute rest on the bed, and then got up to thank the boy.

"I- Thank you." The girl got out. She had her arms crossed and her dark face was bloated due to crying.

"'S nothin', really." The boy smiled. His two front teeth stuck out of his mouth in a weird but adorably attractive overbite. "You wos in trouble an' needed help. Nothin' much." He ran a hand through his hair and then held it out. "M' name's Jake."

She looked up at his face and then shook his hand briefly. "Jane. Look, I'd rather get some sleep. I'm really grateful of y'all and the help and such, but right now-"

"No, no, I understand!" Jake said. "I get it, yeah."

"Thanks, Jake." Jane said. She them mumbled to herself, "I don't trust this place..."

"Hey, I can stand guard all night if yeh want." Jake offered. "Don't want anyone tryna jump ya again. Youse from the Vaults, yeh? Yeah, theresa buncha weirdos 'round here who take advantage of 'dem Vault Dwellers. Catch 'em off guard an' up an' full-on rape 'em. Sometimes kill 'em. Don't wanna see that happen'a you." He told her a story about how he met a Vault Dweller named Gary who had been murdered the night he left his underground home.

"What do we do about that body?" Jane asked.

Jake swaggered inside and searched it, looting it for all it was worth, and handing Jane the spoils. "I'll drag 'er out back an' then come back, 'kay?"

"Okay." Jane whispered. He did as such and came back in five minutes' time.

He pulled a chair up by the door. "If yeh need ennythin', don't be 'fraid to ask, awlright?" Jake offered. Jane nodded. "Sweet dreams, Janeycakes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gary is from that one Vault where everyone's named Gary and can only say "Gary". Because why not?
> 
> dadbert.exe has stopped working. Restart: Y/N
> 
> I appreciate every single comment. Feel free to send one~ I will always respond!


	7. White Pipe

Jane woke up while the skies were still dark. Moonlight dripped through the cracks in the ceiling of the saloon. She got up and quickly dressed, taking her backpack and quietly exited the room.

The Jake English boy was still sitting in the same broken chair as when she went to sleep. She tiptoed past, but a clank of her boots on metal woke him up.

 _"Must be a light sleeper..."_ Jane thought.

Emerald eyes flickered open. "G'mornin', Janeycakes." Jake yawned, sitting up. "Yeh wanna get goin'?"

"What?" Jane asked. "I'm not going anywhere with you. Where the hell did you get  _that_ thought?"

He put an arm around her shoulder, which she quickly shook off. "Gotta protect you..." He yawned.

"No thank you," Jane said, walking down the stairs to exit the saloon, though Jake still persisted.

"Don't want a pretty lady like you to get hurt..." Jake mumbled, half-asleep. Jane gave him a glare and walked out the door, going down the steps to the Megaton square. Jake was still mumbling about how he needed to protect her.

"Please just leave, sugar. I don't need any protection." Jane groaned. "Why do you just assume that-"

Jake wrapped his arms around her quickly as the metal she had stepped on had fallen off the staircase and tumbled down the layers of the city. "Because y'all are unused t' this shit." Jake explained. "Yeh would've died just now."

"Thank you," Jane mumbled, wrestling Jake's arms off of him.

"Where 'zactly are y'all tryin'a go?" Jake asked as he trailed Jane down the stairs. They passed the Bronze Lantern, a little snack stand, and walked their way towards the town gate. "D'yeh have a plan or sumfin?"

"I need to find my father," Jane replied. She got down and picked up an object, stashing it in her pocket. 

"Yeh know where he is?" Jake asked.

Jane stopped in her tracks. "Why are you still following me?" Jane asked bluntly.

Jake held up his gun and fired off a few rounds. Jane turned around to where he directed his gun, shaken up. A large scorpion-looking creature laid dead in the wastes outside Megaton. "I like ya, that's why." Jake said. "Not worth seein' a strong young girl like you go to waste."

Jane rolled her eyes. Jake obviously wasn't threatening in the slightest. Maybe she could utilize him... From a distance. "You can stay, I guess." Jane mumbled. She forced a false smile. "I like you, too. You're not that half-bad lookin'..." The second half  _was_ true. English was rather handsome.

"So, Crockpot." Jake said as they started walking again. "Where's this dad o' yours?"

"That's the problem. I don't know. Couldn't get any information out of that Captor guy... But he must be nearby." Jane said. Jake brought up a point about how her father could still be in Megaton, but Jane brushed it off. "I would've seen him."

"What if he woz in a house or sumfin'?" Jake asked.

She took out the item she had picked up - a white pipe. "Dad leaves these things everywhere he's been. The guys in the Vault collect them as a sort of joke, like a 'Brinner Was Here!' scavenger hunt. Guess he's keeping up the game..."

"Tha' seems awf'ly convenient." Jake noted.

"He's doing it for me, I know it." Jane said, a glint of hope in her otherwise desperate eyes.

Jake just shrugged. "If yeh say so. Where'd he be goin'?"

That was where Jane was out of ideas. "My best bet is just to continue walking."

"Yeh should have a destination, no?" Jake asked. "It'd be smart."

"I don't know where any destination would be..." Jane bit her bottom lip. "What d'you suggest?"

"Guess we could try Big Town... 'S a nice tradin' hub. Might be there." Jake suggested.

"Then it's settled." Jane held out her arm, getting the map up on her Pip Boy. The device detected she was on the surface and thus began to fill in the major settlements. She tapped on Big Town and set a path to go there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Nitrams would own the Bronze Lantern.  
> I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL NOT BE FILLER
> 
> I appreciate every single comment. Feel free to send one~ I will always respond!


End file.
